The present invention relates to communication systems imploring code division multiple access (CDMA) techniques. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transmission diversity scheme which can be applied to a CDMA communication.
Spatial diversity has been proposed for support of very high data rate users within third generation wide band code division multiple access systems. Using multiple antennas, the systems achieves better gains and link quality, which results in increased system capacity. Classically, diversity has been exploited through the use of either beam steering or through diversity combining.
More recently, it has been realized that coordinated use of diversity can be achieved through the use of space-time codes. Such systems can theoretically increase capacity by up to a factor equaling the number of transmit and receive antennas in the array. Space-time codes operate on a block of input symbols producing a matrix output over antennas and time.
In the past, space-time transmit diversity systems have transmitted consecutive symbols simultaneously with their complex conjugates. This type of system, though, may result in symbol overlap at the receiving end. The amount of overlap is dependent on the length of the impulse response of the propagation channel. In time division duplex (TDD) mode, this symbol overlap will have to be accounted for in the joint detection receiver. The joint detector will have to estimate the overlapping transmitted symbols and their conjugates, resulting in an increase in complexity of the joint detection.
In order to alleviate this increase in joint detection complexity, systems have been created which transmit two similar but different data fields. The first data field, having a first portion, D1, and a second portion, D2, is transmitted by the first antenna. A second data field is produced by modifying the first data field. The negation of the conjugate of D2, −D2*, is the first portion of the second data field and the conjugate of D1, D1*, is the second portion. The second data field is simultaneously transmitted by the second antenna.
Although this diversity transmission scheme reduces receiver complexity, receivers for this scheme are still very complex. Such receivers utilize two joint detection devices. Each joint detection device recovers the data field transmitted from one of the antennas individually. Such an implementation deals with cross interference between the two transmitted data fields by dealing with each antenna's transmission separately. As a result, each joint detection device treats the other antenna's transmission as noise. The symbols recovered from each joint detection device are combined using a decoder to determine {right arrow over (d)}1 and {right arrow over (d)}2. A block diagram of this system is illustrated in FIG. 1. The receiver in such a system has a high complexity due to the use of two joint detectors resulting in higher receiver expense.
Accordingly, there exists a need for alternate receiver implementations.